Thursday, January 7, 2016

We Inherited N432b Debt From Fashola, Says Lagos Govt

The Lagos State Government said it inherited a debt of N430
billion from the administration of Babatunde Raji Fashola.

The debt legacy was revealed yesterday as the state announced
plans to float a new bond of N43 billion in the Capital Market this year as
part of move to finance its budget deficit.

Commissioner for Finance, Mustapha Akinkunmi however said
the debt was not a big burden for the state as the government has set money
aside to liquidate a fraction of it.

This year, the government is paying about N78 billion to the
creditors.

He said the debt profile of the state is sustainable
according to international rating, adding that adequate plans have been put in
place to pay back the state’s debt which is a long term debt.

The state government is borrowing N119.7 billion to finance
its budget deficit for this year. Out of the N662.588 billion budget for this
year, the total revenue is put at N542.873 billion while the balance of
N119.715 billion to be funded through borrowing.

Akinkunmi, who spoke in Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria
while answering questions on how government would finance the deficit said very
soon, the N43 billion bond would be floated to raise money to fund the deficit.